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#1
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Leonid Meteor Storm
Enough staring at the Pleiades....lets see some REAL action! For those who have been preoccupied with the roar of the crowd and the smell of the greasepaint, the Leonid meteor shower is scheduled to be a WHOPPER late tonight and mostly in the early hours of Sunday morning. So wind up the old rooster for an early wakeup call, 'cause the best seeing is supposed to be from 2 to 5AM! Not that you can't see something near midnight, but the Earth turns into the oncoming debris AFTER midnight. Put on your long johns, get thee to a dark area away from bright lights, give your eyes about a half-hour to fully adjust, get that lawn chair back out of storage, get a Thermos of your favorite beverage ( no wine for you Ron....you'll be seeing things, but they won't be meteors!) and set back and enjoy the show. Those in the know say tonights fireworks will be the best in decades and maybe decades to come. The Earth will pass through several old comet debris trails tonight, so some periods during the night will be more spectacular than others, but many fireballs are expected along with hundreds....perhaps THOUSANDS of meteors per hour. For an update on when the peaks will appear, check out this website:
www.spaceweather.com ...also, for general info: http://www.msnbc.com/news/653572.asp?pne=msn The Leonids will seem to be radiating from the constellation Leo in the south-southeast. The website has a map. Lets hope for a great show! Don
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Cats: Clio, Inky, Sheba, Sparky, Rocky, Cali, Scooter 3 cars: 02 SVT Focus, 2012 Versa...2015 Fiat 500 currently SVX-less 1 wife ("She, who must be obeyed..") "One advantage of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries" Last edited by SVXphile; 11-17-2001 at 07:58 PM. |
#2
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Thanks!
My wife and I have been planning to view the shower tonight. We'll be getting up at some horrible hour (0200-0300) and driving north of town to a 'metro-park.' A UofM group called 'Lowbrow Astronomy' sets up for this every year.
I'm really looking forward to it. I don't know for sure that I've ever even seen a meteor. I'll have the camera set up. If any of the photographers in the group could help me with settings, I'd appreciate it. I'm hoping the sky will be dark enough to just set the shutter on 'bulb' and leave it open for several seconds at a time. If it is dark enough, is there any reason this won't work? And if it's not perfectly dark, what should I do to try to catch several on film? Thanks.
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2005 RX-8 Grand Touring 2005 Outback 2002 Mercedes-Benz E320 wagon END OF LINE |
#3
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Photo tips
Sounds like you will have a great time tonight! Here is a part of the above-mentioned website that tells about trying to photograph the meteors...
http://www.spaceweather.com/meteors/...phototips.html Good luck!! Don
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Cats: Clio, Inky, Sheba, Sparky, Rocky, Cali, Scooter 3 cars: 02 SVT Focus, 2012 Versa...2015 Fiat 500 currently SVX-less 1 wife ("She, who must be obeyed..") "One advantage of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries" |
#4
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Re: Thanks!
Quote:
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Randy Johnson 3rd Registered Member 02-21-2001 First Member to Reach 10,000 Posts First to arrive at the very first Reading Meet Subaru Ambassador 1992 SVX PPG Pace Car Replica 110+k 1993 White Impreza L 240+K miles 2001 Legacy Outback Limited Sedan 250+K miles 2013 Deep Indigo Pearl Legacy 3.6R 49+K miles "Reading is my favorite Holiday" Mike Davis -- at Reading VI |
#5
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First look
I just got back inside from my first look outside. I was out from 1:20 to 1:50 and it is perfectly clear overhead with slight fog to the east. I saw at least 15 meteors....two really bright ones...one looking very much like a 4th of July roman candle with a glowing trail that lasted in the sky for 15 to 20 seconds. It is 36 degrees out, so I'm going to nap awhile at check again around 4AM...One of the charts shows a strong possibility for lots of meteors betweeen 4 and 5 AM..... Don
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Cats: Clio, Inky, Sheba, Sparky, Rocky, Cali, Scooter 3 cars: 02 SVT Focus, 2012 Versa...2015 Fiat 500 currently SVX-less 1 wife ("She, who must be obeyed..") "One advantage of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries" Last edited by SVXphile; 11-18-2001 at 12:04 AM. |
#6
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What a show!
Jean and I just finished our viewing....4 to 5:45AM....and the only reason we stopped was because we were frozen! What a show! Meteors everywhere....in all directions...groups of 2, 3, or 4 flashing together. Some going off like flashbulbs. One left a trail in the sky for minutes. I see on spaceweather.com that out in California they are seeing one per second! We shared a hilltop with our teacher/neighbors, laid back in lawn chairs and an old army cot, cookies and coffee. I hope everyone got a chance to see some of the peak around 5AM; it was definitely worth the chill! Don
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Cats: Clio, Inky, Sheba, Sparky, Rocky, Cali, Scooter 3 cars: 02 SVT Focus, 2012 Versa...2015 Fiat 500 currently SVX-less 1 wife ("She, who must be obeyed..") "One advantage of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries" |
#7
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Brrr
I just got back as well. Took the SVX on a bit of an off road rally to the top of a peak about 30 miles from here. WOW! What a view and what a spectacular show. We watched from about 2am till 4:45am. It was time to warm up by then! brrrrrr
Did I mention how well the SVX handles off road!? It was just well traveled dirt roads, but it hugged the curves and grabbed the road like the tires were coated in glue. I need to get TWO more SVX's. My current daily driver, one to turn into a race car at the 1/4 mile track, and one to turn into a rally car! I suppose I could just do with one more and two different sets of suspension
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-- Chris Founder/Administrator SVX World Network ECU Tune (stage 1), PWR (prototype aluminum radiator) Amateur Radio - General Class - K7SVX #1 92 Teal LSl 246k (Dedicated SVX Race Car, now with 4.44 speed) #2 92 Teal LSl 125k (Retired, car rescued from a field of weeds) 2007 Impreza 2.5i Special Edition, Obsidian Black Pearl (Daily driver) 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 quad cab, Cummins turbo diesel 4x4 (race car & RV hauler) 1985 Honda VF500 Interceptor (fair weather fun commuter) Going on 11 years of NHRA bracket racing NHRA Div 6 Car/Driver # T654 (site being rebuilt, new name is www.teamsvxracing.com) 2000 1st Place Club Challenge Series 2002 3rd Place Season Track Champion, Import Racing (Firebird Raceway) 2003 4th Place Season Track Champion, Import Racing (Firebird Raceway) 2003 1st Place NW Regional Import Shootout (July 5th) 2004 1st Place Club Challenge #1 (Firebird Raceway) 2004 1st Place NHRA "King of the Track" race 2004 NHRA Gold Cup 2nd place season win 2004 Import/Sport Compact 3rd place season win 2004 Division 6 Summit/ET NHRA Race of Champions finalist competitor (Mission, BC) 2007 1st Place Import Survival #3 2007 1st Place Track Champion Import Summer Jam (Wild Street Class) 2007 1st Place Import Survival #5 2008 Club season 1st place win, Club Champion 2008 2nd Place Season Import Final. 2008 Division 6 Summit/ET NHRA Import Finals (Woodburn, Or) 2009 2nd Place Import Summer Jam (Wild Street Class) 2010 1st Place Club race #2 - 1st place Sport Compact race #1 & #2 |
#8
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Somewhere around 9 or 10 it got foggy here.
It still is. I missed it all. And I'm hacked.
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2005 RX-8 Grand Touring 2005 Outback 2002 Mercedes-Benz E320 wagon END OF LINE |
#9
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A thick fog set in all around my house around midnight. Fortunately, it was like someone cut a window to the sky right above my house. It gave me a pretty wide view. I lay in my front yard in my lawn chair, with two coats and a caraffe of coffee. I started watching at midnight. I saw some magnificent displays between midnight and 12:30. Then, sporadic displays ranging from quick white streaks to wide blue stripes thereafter. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold my eyes open any more by 4:15 (CDT). I think it was around 3:30 when I saw, what I think, was the highlight of my viewing experience: three fireballs in succession on the same trejectory, much like the roman candle Don described. From my vantage point, it was pretty cool, but not what I'd call "Spectacular." Of course, as I said, some of the sky was obscured by the fog, so, knowing my "good fortune," the most spectacular displays were probably in that fog. I did see a few muted flashes in the fog that were pretty cool, though. All in all, I guess it was worth not feeling my nose or toes for a while.
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Randy Johnson 3rd Registered Member 02-21-2001 First Member to Reach 10,000 Posts First to arrive at the very first Reading Meet Subaru Ambassador 1992 SVX PPG Pace Car Replica 110+k 1993 White Impreza L 240+K miles 2001 Legacy Outback Limited Sedan 250+K miles 2013 Deep Indigo Pearl Legacy 3.6R 49+K miles "Reading is my favorite Holiday" Mike Davis -- at Reading VI |
#10
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I'm glad you had such a good time, Randy. <grumble, mumble>
When the alarm went off at 3AM and I still couldn't see the lights on the house across the street, I figured driving the 30min to the aforementioned event was a bad idea.
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2005 RX-8 Grand Touring 2005 Outback 2002 Mercedes-Benz E320 wagon END OF LINE |
#11
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By the way, now's as good a time as any to recruit. Hopefully the show last night got a few people interested in looking up.
Go download the Seti@Home client to run on your home PC. It doesn't get in the way of any other applications and it looks friggin' cool to boot. I just passed 3,000 workunits a couple weeks ago. I have donated over 4.4 years of CPU time and it has taken me VERY little effort. Maybe five minutes every couple months, now that I'm not running it on fifteen Lockheed Martin machines. This was against their policies, but screw 'em - they screwed me every day. But I'm not bitter. The moral of the story is don't run it on your work PC unless you have the permission of the (probably evil) IT staff. Go get it. All of your smart friends are doing it. The URL is in my sig.
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2005 RX-8 Grand Touring 2005 Outback 2002 Mercedes-Benz E320 wagon END OF LINE |
#12
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Almost caught you
Quote:
Name (and URL) Vidar Results Received 2981 Total CPU Time 3.131 years Average CPU Time per work unit 9 hr 11 min 59.0 sec Last result returned: Sun Nov 18 22:11:14 2001 UTC Registered on: Sat Oct 16 19:41:37 1999 UTC SETI@home user for: 2.094 years
__________________
-- Chris Founder/Administrator SVX World Network ECU Tune (stage 1), PWR (prototype aluminum radiator) Amateur Radio - General Class - K7SVX #1 92 Teal LSl 246k (Dedicated SVX Race Car, now with 4.44 speed) #2 92 Teal LSl 125k (Retired, car rescued from a field of weeds) 2007 Impreza 2.5i Special Edition, Obsidian Black Pearl (Daily driver) 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 quad cab, Cummins turbo diesel 4x4 (race car & RV hauler) 1985 Honda VF500 Interceptor (fair weather fun commuter) Going on 11 years of NHRA bracket racing NHRA Div 6 Car/Driver # T654 (site being rebuilt, new name is www.teamsvxracing.com) 2000 1st Place Club Challenge Series 2002 3rd Place Season Track Champion, Import Racing (Firebird Raceway) 2003 4th Place Season Track Champion, Import Racing (Firebird Raceway) 2003 1st Place NW Regional Import Shootout (July 5th) 2004 1st Place Club Challenge #1 (Firebird Raceway) 2004 1st Place NHRA "King of the Track" race 2004 NHRA Gold Cup 2nd place season win 2004 Import/Sport Compact 3rd place season win 2004 Division 6 Summit/ET NHRA Race of Champions finalist competitor (Mission, BC) 2007 1st Place Import Survival #3 2007 1st Place Track Champion Import Summer Jam (Wild Street Class) 2007 1st Place Import Survival #5 2008 Club season 1st place win, Club Champion 2008 2nd Place Season Import Final. 2008 Division 6 Summit/ET NHRA Import Finals (Woodburn, Or) 2009 2nd Place Import Summer Jam (Wild Street Class) 2010 1st Place Club race #2 - 1st place Sport Compact race #1 & #2 |
#13
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Most of my life I have always been in the wrong place at the wrong time to see any of the meteor showers, not last night. It was clear and cold and great viewing I watched the show with a friend from 4 to 5:30 am, until it got to light out. Streaks of light all over the sky in every direction. The longest burn streak lasted about 15 seconds. I am not in a country area. I can't see the millyway anywhere between where I live and NYC. There are just too many lights from the cities around here.
Glad to hear that it was even better in darker places. |
#14
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Shootin' stars! Whoo-hoo!
I set alarm for 4:00AM. Alarm goes off. I acknowledge & re-wake up at 5:00AM. Oh-No! I'm gonna miss 'em! Look out window - Can't see across street - FOG! I'll show, ya! I get dressed, grab binoculars, box 'o Zinfandel, go to bat cave, mount batmobile & I'm off to HIGH ground! Uh... let's see highest ground within 30 miles is 75 feet above sea level. Gawd, what's all this traffic? Oh, it must be other professional astronomers like myself. What's with all these lights? Only half an hour 'til God pulls the plug, & I can't see anything but other fools driving around in fog circles. I give up - head for home, but LOOK, there in the distance I see STARS. I chase the stars into a high school parking lot. Other cars are there - I ask another driver, "Did you see anything"? "Yes, it was magnificent". I look up for a long time. Still hazy on the horizon. Then, I see a fuzzy streak. Then two more. Then - nothing. Everyone drives away. I go home. Well, there's always 2030! Gee - I'll be 89 years old. Will I still have the SVX? Yes - unless they pry it from my cold dead fingers. I need some sleep. I sure hope Don made a nice video tape! Ron.
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Good s**t happened. 69 was worth the wait. '92 stock semi-pristine ebony - 160K '96 Grand Caravan - 240K '01 Miata SE - 79K '07 Chrysler Pacifica - 60k - future money pit. |
#15
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Ron,
Do you have a special cup/box holder in your SVX for your box-o-zinfendal. or The fuzzy streak that you saw probably came from the box-o-zinfendal. or "Box-o-Zinfindal" ; no wonder it was so foggy !!! Pick whichever you prefer. Larry III |
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